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Dong qi, referring to beating beside the navel, was proposed for the first time by Nan Jing. "Beating above the navel" " beating below the navel", and "beating below the heart" in Shanghan Lun all belong to the category of Dong qi. The pathogenesis of Dong qi can be learned from Shanghan Lun. Yang deficiency of the heart, spleen, and kidney, with qi failing to transform body fluids, results in fluid retention. Fluid retention is the key etiological factor of Dong qi. Although there is an exterior pattern with Dong qi, the exterior-releasing and purgative method cannot be used for treatment, or the patient will be impaired of yang and exhausted of yin, fluid circulation will be disturbed, and so on. Reinforcing yang qi to drain water retention is the treatment principle of Dong qi. The coupled medicines of Fuling and Guizhi were commonly used by ZHANG Zhongjing to treat Dong qi. This reflects the treatment principle of strengthening the spleen and warming yang for transforming qi to circulate body fluids. ZHANG Bi, a physician from the Yuan Dynasty who learned from ZHANG Zhongjing, thought that the treatment of Dong qi was based on the method of cultivating earth to restrain water and taking into account the ascending, descending, entering, and exiting of qi of the liver, heart, lung, and kidney while tonifying the spleen, and then created Baoming Siqi Powder (Zhiqiao, Fuling, Fangkui, and Qianhu Powder) for the treatment of Dong qi, which is of great significance to the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]